I can’t even call it “television” to be honest. The same can be said for the recent Daredevil show. When shows are only exclusively available through streaming, is it fair to call it television? I guess the same argument can be made for shows on HBO and Showtime and the like, but at least HBO acknowledged the problem somewhat with their tagline “It’s not TV. It’s HBO.”

Anyway, Powers was supposed to debut on FX, but somehow making it only to the Playstation Network. Sure, the pilot episode is on YouTube and Crackle (or it was on Crackle—it isn’t anymore), and yes, it just got renewed for a second season, but that doesn’t say too much. It’s PSN’s first scripted original show. It had to renew for a second season, or else it would be called an abject failure all around.

It was optioned for production back in 2001, and it didn’t see the light of day until 2015. Doing the simple math, that’s fourteen years to get the show greenlit, written, cast, and produced. I understand it takes monumental effort to bring anything to any screen (there’s a book I’ve co-written that has some interest as a show as well), but to go from FX to having to completely reshoot/rewrite the pilot to having it go to PSN didn't instill a lot of confidence in me.

What’s the reach of the show? By that, I mean what’s the reach of PSN? I don’t have a gaming console, so I don’t know. My last console was a Playstation 3, and I hardly played the thing because I’m a busy guy. (Family, work, writing and editing can do that to you.) When that finally broke, I didn’t replace it because I didn’t miss it. The last console I touched was an X-Box, and that was almost 3 years ago.

I know that all the major consoles allow you to get online, and I know they all have Netflix. I know that Netflix has more subscribers than HBO (although the numbers fluctuate a bit). I subscribe to Netflix. I subscribe to Amazon Prime (because I got a really good deal.) I don’t subscribe to Hulu or HBO Go or anything else. Just Netflix and Amazon Prime. I believe all of those services kick the ass of PSN in terms of numbers. Yes, I understand that gamers love their consoles, but how many of them subscribe to PSN in order to make the numbers work?

I’ve seen the first episode. I understand why it’s PSN only. It’s not a good show, with the only redeeming quality to it being the actress playing Deena Pilgrim. Michelle Forbes, whom I think is sexy, looks ridiculous in this show. The acting isn’t up to snuff, you can tell when things have been green-screened, and everything looks like a set. There was a fight of powers near the beginning that looked like Mortal Kombat from the 90s. (I saw it on YouTube, and really, I can't get that hour back.)

This isn’t good, and it’s got the green light for a second season.

I’m glad the Powers team got paid, but I’m sure they’re not happy with the final product, despite what they say.

I’m just happy Daredevil looks better as a direct-to-stream comic book offering. I’m looking forward to the rest of the Marvel offerings as well. I’ll be staying far away from Powers, though, unless it gets rebooted.